April
13, 2017
Holy
and Great Thursday
This evening we finished the church service with the reading of the
twelve Passion Gospels of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was crucified for
us, to redeem us from the primordial sin and bestow us eternal life.
This evening we begin the Great and Holy Friday, the day when Christ
will be crucified, a day when the whole creation pauses in a struggle
to understand the great mystery. For us, the Orthodox Christians it
is a day of strict fasting, when we abstain from food and drink
through the day, for as long as we can. We also abstain from work and
any activities that take us away from the Cross.
When
we contemplate about the terrible sufferings followed by the
Crucifixtion, we can get a bit of sense what He did for us and our
salvation. I often think of that and every time I think about His
sufferings, my heart troubles from the pain and anguish He had. And
over all, that terrible pain for me and for every single human being.
For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son to die for us (John 3:15). What a
love! What a great love of God towards us, the unobedient children.
To die for this world, it means to put aside all concerns at the
hands in the One Who holds the world with His Love. To die for this
world, it means to revive for the sacrifice which shines from the
eternity on daily bases – a Sacrifice that had been offered for
everything created.
There
is something that made me write this journal this evening as I was
not planning. However, contemplating
this evening about the Passions of our sweet Lord Jesus Christ, I
wanted to set down and express a sadness that happens every year. We
Christians across the country celebrate Easter (Pascha). Have we truly
understood its meaning and the essential of it (Easter)?
A friend of mine
today inspired me to write this down. I met him recently, a lovely
young man, full with enthusiasm.
From what he told me, he is not religious,
but believes in God. Nothing new to me. To all honesty, I feel sorry
for those who are not religious, but spiritual. It
is like you are chasing your own shade throughout
your life and you never get to touch it, neither experience it.
Anyway,
I will not go further with this one. Perhaps, at another occasion.
A
few days ago, I texted him where I invited
him to come for Easter at the church where I go to as well as for a
Easter reception at my priest's house or
the one In San Francisco (I wasn't sure yet which one I was going to)
which takes place every year. He
texted me back that he cannot
come because he will be working until 2am.
His response was that on Sunday he will be with his family.
I
took him as an example, but I see same situation among the Americans.
Is Easter all about family gathering? What is even worse, we don't
even know how to greet each other properly. Instead of saying “Christ
is Risen,” we hear around “Happy Eater.” Easter is not about
gathering with the family. Yes,
family is part of it, but what is the most important part of the
feast? We do not built a house from the roof and finish up with the
foundations, but it's other way around.
Easter
is about celebrating the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ. How can we celebrate this Feast of the Feast? We, as
Christians, must attend Easter church service where after the
announcing the Resurrection (Easter),
we go home where we gather with our family and greet each other with
“Christ is Risen.” What a
joy to attend the Easter church service and then that joy to bring at
home and greet others! There is something special that cannot
be explained about the Easter service, indeed. Only those who have
attended, would understand what I am talking about. The grace of the
Resurrected Lord is immensely and there is nothing left except to
rejoice and eat from the “food of the Feast.” Where else we are
going to experience this? At home, while having lunch with our family
on Easter and have fun? At work? At the club or by simply saying
“Happy Easter?” For us, Christians, the church as the Body of
Christ, the Easter church service is the place where we hear the
glorious announcing “Christ is Risen.” That's where the Feast
begins and from there we bring the festive grace in our home and we
spread among our dear ones as
one holy elder would say: If young people would taste the
grace of God just once, it would take a crane to pull them out of His
church.
Our
Lord Jesus Christ died for us and for our salvation, to redeem us
from the sin. The salvation for the human race was
sealed by His Resurrection. This is the essential. Therefore, let us
not forget the true meaning and proper celebration of Easter. Many of us celebrate Easter as we were thought. Some of us are not educated enough in it. However, it is not mistake not to know. But when we know that is not proper and we continue to do things on our own way that's when a mistake becomes mistake. There is always time to correct ourselves and offer to Christ a pure and proper celebration for His Resurrection. Therefore, let us
give our attention of celebrating His Resurrection properly
as it should be for each of one of us Christians. We, Christians,
express our faith in actions. Let those actions of ours tell our
family, our friend, our neighbors, our beloved one and tell to the
whole world “CHRIST IS RISEN!”
Resurrect
our fallen hearts, O Lord!
Andov S.
